Slovakia's workday-adjusted industrial output growth eased to 4.4% y/y in July 2014 from a revised 7.6% the month before on weaker expansion in the mining and manufacturing sectors, data from the country's statistics office showed on September 11.

Manufacturing production increased by 4.5% y/y in July, slowing down from a revised growth of 9.6% y/y in June. Production increased the most in computers, electronics and optics (+16.3% y/y), one of the industry’s most important driving forces, accelerating from a 1.4% rise the month before. Slovakia is home to plants run by South Korea's Samsung and Taiwan's Foxconn.

Production also rose in metal products except machinery and equipment (+15% y/y) and in repair and installation of machinery and equipment (+13.4% y/y).

The output in the car manufacturing sector, the industry’s main growth driver, expanded by 2.3% y/y in July easing from a growth of 9.4% posted in June. Slovakia is home to three big car assembling plants run by Germany's Volkswagen, South Korea's Kia Motors and France's PSA Peugeot Citroen.

The utilities sector posted a 2.4% y/y production growth, reversing a 10.1% y/y drop in June. The mining industry’s output grew by 7.7% y/y in July after an annual 12% rise in the previous month.

On a seasonally adjusted monthly basis, Slovakia's industrial output grew by 0.1% m/m in July after growing by 0.6% m/m in June.

In the first seven months of the year, the country's industrial production increased by 5.4% y/y.

IntelliNews comment:  Slovakia’s industrial output is expected to continue rising in the coming months backed by increasing domestic and foreign demand. Global car makers with production facilities in the country are planning to boost production, a move which will help the automotive industry expand at a more robust rate.

For example, Germany’s Volkswagen may start producing its Lamborghini Urus SUV model in Slovakia and its Bratislava plant will produce completely the Porsche Cayenne model as of 2017.

Last year, the country’s industrial output growth eased to 5.2% from 7.7% the year before as the key auto manufacturing sector added no new capacities and demand remained soft.